A Pennsylvania highway construction worker who was left a quadriplegic after being injured at work recently reached what is considered to be one of the largest workers’ compensation settlements in the country. At the time of the accident the man was employed by Liberty Construction. Erie Insurance Co. is his former employer’s insurance carrier. Under the approved settlement the man will receive $3 million.

The accident took place over 10 years ago, in January 2001, when the construction worker was 31-years-old. The man was seriously injured when he was hit by a passing car as he directed traffic at a highway construction project located on a Bucks County highway. Just six months before the accident the man and his wife had become parents to a baby boy.

The car that hit the worker was reportedly the last in a group of vehicles that the man had instructed to stop. Choosing to not heed the instruction, the driver of the vehicle pulled around the other stopped cars and hit the worker.

The impact of the collision reportedly caused the worker to fly 15 feet into the air. He apparently landed 60 feet from where he was hit. The serious injuries sustained caused the man to spend seven months in the hospital. His spinal cord was partially severed in the accident and he broke his neck. In addition, an elbow and leg were shattered and he sustained brain injuries.

In addition to the workers’ compensation claim, the man also filed a civil personal injury lawsuit against the driver of the vehicle that hit him. In that lawsuit it was alleged that the driver was intoxicated when the accident occurred. A jury awarded the worker $75.6 million in that case. The amount was later reduced to $38 million.

Source: The Reporter, “Lower Pottsgrove man paralyzed in construction accident receives multi-million dollar settlement,” Carl Hessler Jr., Dec. 15, 2011